International projectionist (Nov-Dec 1933)

30 INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST November 1933 WARNER THE A TRES use SONOLUX EXCITERS f Exclusively! • Wherever you see the sign, "Warner Theatres", there you will find Sonolux Exciter Lamps. The chain of fine Warner Theatres prides itself on being the home of good shows — and good shows and fine sound projection go hand-in-hand. Naturally, you would expect to find Sonolux Exciters in the largest and finest theatres. • In many fine smaller theatres, too, which insist upon de-luxe quality shows, you will find Sonolux Exciters, an indispensable necessity for good projection in all types of theatres. Projectionists appreciate Sonolux constant quality and long life; theatre owners and managers appreciate Sonolux low cost and splendid service. Try a Sonolux today and be convinced. Sonolux Exciters are distributed by leading supply dealers everywhere. All National Theatre Supply Co. branches stock Sonolux. THE SONOLUX CO. 3 Central Ave. East Newark, N. J. Cable Address: Sonolux, Newark, N. J. coincide with the stationary parts. The two were then photographed simultaneously, one over the other, thus saving unnecessary drawing. Barre also originated the use of registering pegs and punch holes in the drawings for holding them in place during the photographing. Bill Nolan, working with Barre, was the first to use a panorama background. The panorama, with the characters moving past the background, was an innovation and made a decided improvement in the action. That was in 1916. Most of the cartoons shown on the screen in 1917 were greatly inferior to those of today. They were crude and the characters imperfectly synchronized. They would walk either too fast or not fast enough ; the leg movements seemed to create the illusion that the feet were being dragged somewhat in the manner of a skater's sliding over the ice. Another characteristic was the "bubble" type of title. This title was similar to the present press cartoon title, in which the wording appears in a balloon with a line leading down to the character. When the title appeared on the screen, the character would come to a pause, face the audience and "yap" or rapidly open and close its mouth to represent talking. This, of course, greatly interfered with the continuity of the story. The Hearst Cartoons Into this period entered the International Feature Syndicate, formed by William R. Hearst. He placed Gregory La Cava in charge, who immediately set about improving the cartoons. He increased the number of drawings from the 2,000 of the average cartoon of the time to 3,500, resulting in smoother animation. Further, he changed the animation of the characters from the stiff, angular movements of the legs and arms to a smooth "rubbery" animation such as is used at present. La Cava also discontinued the "bubble" title for the conventional title of the silent days. Beginning in 1917, the International Syndicate released such cartoons in series as Jerry on the Job (Fig. 18), drawn by Walt Lantz; Katzenjammer Kids, by John Foster; Tad's Indoor Sports, drawn by Bill Nolan and released at the end of the International Newsreel. Happy Hooligan, drawn by Jack King; Bringing Up Father, by Bert Green; Krazy Kat (Fig. 19), drawn also by Bill Nolan and Leon Searle, and the best of the Internationals, Silk Hat Harry, were the principal cartoons released at this time by that company. This last-named was drawn by Walt Lantz and La Cava, and was first released in 1918. The first International cartoons were made somewhat after the principle of the first Bray cartoons, in which the background was drawn on a translucent medium and the characters on an opaque sheet. The background was then laid on top of the character draw